Posts Tagged ‘Endless Space 2’

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Look, I know putting ‘space’ in front of something atypically space-ey might not be the most subtle way of getting people’s attention, but I can’t deny that it works. If the idea of playing as space Vikings while listening to a kick-ass space violin in 4X strategy game Endless Space 2 appeals as much to you as it does to me, then good news! The Vaulters expansion came out yesterday, throwing the science and military focused nomads into the cosmic fray. A launch trailer awaits below.

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Xcess, xplain, xcacerbate, xpire. Those are my 4 Xs. What are yours? Oh, it’s the boring ones. The kind you’d find in grand strategy sci-fi game Endless Space 2. Well, it might xcite you to learn that the space race between space races is getting an xpansion featuring the Vaulters, a crowd of godly ne’er-do-wells who’ve feature in previous Endless games, such as Endless Legend. This is the first proper expansion and it’s coming out on January 25. Here’s a cinematic about a sad robot. Read the rest of this entry »

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Another year over, a new one just begun, which means, impossibly, even more games. But what about last year? Which were the games that most people were buying and, more importantly, playing? As is now something of a tradition, Valve have let slip a big ol’ breakdown of the most successful titles released on Steam over the past twelve months.

Below is the full, hundred-strong roster, complete with links to our coverage if you want to find out more about any of the games, or simply to marvel at how much seemed to happen in the space of 52 short weeks.

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Endless Space 2, the 4X game about achieving galactic supremacy with unique and interesting factions, is having a free weekend. Just to confirm: your space will end on Sunday at 9pm GMT unless you buy the game. There’s a new update too, which expands the diplomatic options and adds a bunch of other new stuff.

If you only accept your space in truly infinite form, it’s half-price now too.

The devs have also launched the ‘Galactic Statecraft’ update, which adds more options to the diplomatic side of the game. In theory, you’ll be able to solve your conflicts via chatting rather than combating. It also pirate lairs to worry about, plot-related end-game bonuses, orbital stations, constellation control bonuses, weapon balancing and new events. It’s all detailed in the patch notes, as well as this here video. Read the rest of this entry »

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Splendid sci-fi strategy game Endless Space 2 [official site] today launched a big update adding fighters and bombers. These spaceship classes were added to the first game in an expansion then promised as freebies for the sequel after launch, and here we are. Arriving alongside them are a new quest revolving around fighters and bombers, as well as returning Pirate hero Jennifer Rach. The game’s picked up a tidy little discount to celebrate the launch too. Read the rest of this entry »

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Big, slow, sweeping strategy games expose their rules in a way no other game does. Call of Duty doesn’t have floating numbers above enemy heads, telling you their movement speed, for example. But in most 4X and grand strategy games, there is no attempt to hide exactly how everything works: the stats, their interactions, are all laid out and plain to see. Yet these games are utterly dependent on their ability to evoke a sense of place, scale, and history – they have to be much more than just a fancy chessboard, they have to feel alive, or they’re just not much fun. How can these games survive and thrive under such conflicting pressures? I spoke to three of the world’s top strategy game designers, from Firaxis, Paradox and Amplitude, to find out. Read the rest of this entry »

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I don’t wish to sound callous but: if you find someone imprisoned inside a neutron star, leave them there. They’re probably in there for a very good reason. And apparently they’re powerful enough to survive being inside a neutron star. Leave well enough alone. But a spacefool like you will charge right in, I know, eager to complete the new quest which has arrived in Endless Space 2 [official site] with the launch of its ‘Stellar Prisoner’ update. Yup, Amplitude’s space strategy game left early access in May (it’s great, by the way) but updates are still rolling. Read the rest of this entry »

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Endless Space 2’s races are a fascinating bunch who wouldn’t seem out of place in a Mos Eisley cantina, but maybe you’ve had enough of them. Or perhaps you want your next galaxy to be full of new aliens to pal around with. Good news, then, because buried in the game setup menu is an option to create new factions. In an effort to get to grips with the editor and put together this guide, I’ve been working on my own: the Oak Blokes. Read the rest of this entry »

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The RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, was recently brought out of retirement for one last job. But it turns out that job takes place on a weekly basis. That’s why the third episode is out now, in which Pip, Adam and I talk about sunny platformer RiME, alien-smashing grand strategy Endless Space 2, and walking simulator-with-bullets OrbLands.

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Update: The year is finished, which means you can now read our final list of the best games of 2017.

2017 has already been an extraordinary year for PC games, from both big-name AAA successes to no-name surprise indie smashes. Keeping up with so much that’s worth playing is a tough job, but we’ve got your back. Here is a collection of the games that have rocked the RPS Treehouse so far this year.

We’ve all picked our favourites, and present them here in alphabetical order so as not to start any fights. You’re bound to have a game you’d have wanted to see on the list, so please do add it to the comments below. Read the rest of this entry »

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Fraser gave Endless Space 2 [official site] a hearty recommendation in his review yesterday, praising the scifi 4X for its quirky races, its economic systems, and its efforts to breathe life into the musty corners of the genre. Now we’ve got ten copies to giveaway, and you can enter for a chance to win one below.

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It’s cruel that Endless Space 2 [official site] doesn’t launch until tomorrow when the review embargo has already lifted and Fraser Brown has gushingly told us Wot He Thinks of the spacey 4X strategy. It’s a great game and we can’t play it yet because we’re not fancy-fancy like him. I guess we’re sitting on our hands for another day an- hold on! It’s out! Endless Space 2 is out! A day ahead of schedule, developers Amplitude Studios have launched the big update which frees the game from the orbit of early access and blasts it off into the great unknown. Read the rest of this entry »

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I can imagine the intervention now, family and friends sitting around me in a circle. “Fraser, we all care about you. You’re in a safe space. But you’ve got to stop falling in love with 4X games. It’s bad for your health.” I’d walk straight out of the room, of course. My new beau is Endless Space 2 [official site], and its got its hooks in me deep. Like its predecessor – definitely Endless Legend and not the first Endless Space – it’s a bold attack on the more staid elements of the 4X multiverse, full of character, weirdness and ambition.Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s T minus ten days to the full launch of Endless Space 2 [official site] and we finally have a look at the eighth and final playable faction of Amplitude’s space strategy game. The Unfallen are a species of treants who’ve taken to the stars in driftwood-y ships to spread peace and harmony. They sound a pretty neat bunch, slowly branching out into nearby systems while making friends and boosting allies. Bless the little darlings. Here, watch their introduction: Read the rest of this entry »

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“I’m not planning to go back until the Early Access period is done,” our Adam said after playing the initial release of Endless Space 2 [official site]. It’s not that Amplitude’s 4X space strategy sequel was bad, more he’d much rather wait then get to know the full, complete game. Sounds sensible! Adam, and all y’all who held back, get out your pens, glue, glitter, and sticky stars and decorate Friday, May 19th something cosmic on your calendar. That’s when Sega have announced Endless Space 2 will launch, see. You can also decorate other days, if you’d like. Read the rest of this entry »

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In its early access mission to seek out new features and new civilizations, Endless Space 2 [official site] today encountered some corkers. Multiplayer is now in, supporting up to eight players, and a new faction has entered the 4X scrap too. The Riftborn are a lifeform from another dimension forced into ours, packing mighty time-manipulation powers and some ↑ natty threads. Here, meet ’em in this video: Read the rest of this entry »

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Look, I trust you’re a sensible sort who’d sooner pluck out thine eye than read video game loreblasts but… check out this backstory for the latest faction added to strategy ’em Endless Space 2 [official site] on its journey through early access.

“Incredibly wealthy and only slightly less deranged, Horatio was a trillionaire who left to discover his own star cluster. Finding a planet sprinkled with labs of ancient cloning technology left by the Endless, the boredom soon drove Horatio to create a race of allies, servants, and slaves who were every bit as gorgeous as the most beautiful person in the universe–Horatio. Once the planet was repopulated, Horatio the First had only to look up, regard the stars, and realise how much beautiful they, too, would be if they were filled with… Horatios. The rest, as they say, is history.”

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“I’m not planning to go back until the Early Access period is done,” our Adam said after playing the still-in-development Endless Space 2 [official site], preferring to wait to enjoy the finished game. Fair enough! But if you’ve been playing Amplitude’s space strategy game or simply want to know how development is coming along, here’s word of the first big update. It’s expanding and extending the game, adding another major faction, the United Empire, along with three more minor factions, while extending the turn limit and adding the fourth tier of technologies. Read the rest of this entry »